


The Proposal

by MadeNew



Series: All That Matters [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Nervous Sasuke, Romance, Slice of Life, Things Go Wrong, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, because these two are in love, but none of it matters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23895055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadeNew/pseuds/MadeNew
Summary: Sasuke's sure he's thought of everything he needs to propose to Naruto. He's sure - right up until he realizes he may have missed some details.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: All That Matters [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722202
Comments: 21
Kudos: 208





	The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! If you haven't read "The Bet", which is the first part of this series, you don't need to in order to understand this one, but it won't hurt! And if you're here after reading that one, I'm so sorry this took me so long. I was not in a very fluffy mood, and it took a bit. I hope it was worth the wait! Please enjoy :)

Sasuke has been planning his proposal for a long time now – longer, really, than he’s willing to admit – and it doesn’t strike him as something terribly difficult on the surface. The crux of it is this: he _knows_ Naruto, and he knows Naruto loves him, in every possible sense of the word. He knows he has nothing to fear. He knows however the day goes, however it ends, he won’t lose him – and really, he can’t think of anything else that matters.

That being said, Sasuke also likes think he’s fairly aware of his flaws, and he’s pretty confident that one of those is his lack of attention to detail. Both he and Naruto are very goal-oriented: they decide what they want, and they work to get it. The smaller steps rarely matter, to either one of them. For example, he remembers when they decided to move in together. They rented a place, packed up all their boxes, and promptly realized they had no way to get there. Thankfully Kiba was willing to come by with his truck. Then, with the unpacking, they realized they’d failed to label boxes, and Sakura bailed them out.

Sasuke’s pretty sure she has a better sense of where everything is in their apartment than they do, to this day.

So while he refuses to take responsibility for Kakashi’s hair color – no matter how much he tries to blame it on him and Naruto, Sasuke’s seen the pictures of him with Itachi as a kid – he does have to admit that there’s a possibility that the crinkle between Sakura’s eyes might be a little his fault - responsibility to be shared with Naruto, of course.

It’s for this reason that he’s sitting there at lunch waiting for what seems like far, far too long as she peruses his proposal plans. He tries to keep himself from tapping his fingers impatiently on the table; it feels too ungrateful a gesture for how much she does for them.

“Okay,” she says for the third time. “Okay. So let me walk through this: you’re going to get up early with him, have breakfast, spend the morning at the beach, stop by Ichiraku’s for lunch, and then go to the obstacle course in town Naruto's been wanting to check out. Then to the canyon, where I’m assuming I’ll have dinner and the party set up, and you’ll propose there?”

“Yes.” Sasuke shifts restlessly in his chair, trying not to betray his nervousness. He’s sure he’s thought this through. He _has._

“Are you sure you want to do the proposing part in public?” She frowns at him. “You’re kind of a private person, Sasuke. I wasn’t sure you were even going to share all this with me.”

He flushes and turns his head to try to hid it, picking up his coffee. “I’m sure.”

She raises an eyebrow.

He sighs. “If he says yes, he’ll immediately get on the phone. He will spend the next forty-eight hours calling everyone to tell them and fielding calls from people upset that he hasn’t told them yet, which has only happened because he’s incapable of having a phone call under half an hour long, at minimum. And if he says no, he’ll probably want the moral support.”

“And you? The moral support?”

He carefully stirs his coffee, pretending it isn’t just black, as if there’s cream to mix in there. “Itachi’s on the list,” he says eventually.

“So’s Kakashi. And me.”

He shakes his head. “Something goes bad, you won’t leave Naruto’s side. And I won’t want you to, okay?”

She frowns. “He’ll say yes. This whole argument isn’t worth having. Okay. So you need me mostly to organize the party then, right? And this is your list of people?”

“Yes, if you can.”

“Of course!” She scans his list. “There’s just one problem. You know how many people on this list Naruto will run into just during the course of your day? And how many of those will actually be able to keep their mouths shut?”

He looks up, alarmed. “Can you –”

“Yes, of course, I’ll manage it.” She waves her hands at him. “Go, buy a ring, call Itachi, because he’s the only person on this list I’m not bothering to wrangle.”

He groans. “Sakura –”

“Don’t ‘Sakura’ me. You know he’ll just call you immediately as soon as I’m off the phone with him anyways. And what do you expect? He’ll be upset? He may be Overprotective Brother of the Year, but even he knows you’re about to lock down the best guy on the planet. Now go. Buy. Keep your phone on you, or I’ll make Itachi find you.”

“But –”

“No buts. Go.”

He smiles despite himself as she dismisses him with another little flick of her fingers, and he drops some money on the table to cover her lunch. “Thank you, Sakura.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbles, pulling up her phone.

He leaves, fairly pleased. Task one down.

* * *

Task two was supposed to be simpler. Sasuke completely expected it to be simple, which was why he left it to the last minute. Picking a ring isn’t supposed to be this complicated. How can it be this complicated?

Sasuke is convinced it shouldn’t be. He knows Naruto doesn’t want anything intricate. He hasn’t planned on any stones. Diamonds are flashy, and most everything else – he’s learned quite recently – is too soft to hold up to Naruto’s rough treatment. When he described him, the saleswoman immediately suggested a plain band.

That, he maintains, should have been the end of it.

Instead, he’s stuck agonizing over metals. Silver’s easily discarded – too soft, and it’ll tarnish. Gold is possible, but then there are still choices – white? Yellow? Rose? Black? Ten karat? Fourteen karat? Eighteen karat? Or he could do platinum. Or palladium. Or platinaire. Platinum is supposed to be tougher, more scratch resistant, but then the scratches that do happen are harder to buff out, and it’s more expensive. Not that cost is the point, but if Sasuke’s going to spend triple the money, he wants to know it’s the right decision.

That doesn’t even _touch_ the alternative metals. Titanium? Tungsten? Stainless steel? What about inlays?

Sasuke groans and drops his head in his hands. He’s now spent three days researching, and although he’s lucky and Naruto wears the stock size, he knows today is the last day to order anything the store doesn’t have immediately available. He’s been here for almost two hours, the saleswoman has shown him what he is sure is every ring in the store, and he’s _tired._

The salesgirl smiles at him sympathetically. “If it were me,” she says, “I’d do a simple gold band. Five millimeters wide. Comfort-fit. Fourteen karat yellow gold. Since he’s the stock size, you can still take full advantage of our exchange policy if for some reason he doesn’t like it, but it’s hard to go wrong with a classic.”

He stares at her, desperate to grasp onto any little bit of sanity. He’s fairly sure she gave that same speech three days ago when he first came in, but now he can’t quite remember what was wrong with it. “Okay.”

She perks up, and he realizes she looks almost as stressed as he does.

Good. Someone should. Sakura’s having a damn field day texting him every other second about every conceivable detail Sasuke could possibly have forgotten.

Despite his irritation, he’s really grateful that she’s doing this for him. He’s planned out the important parts, but it’s nice to know the details will be taken care of without him having to worry so much.

Except for the damn ring, which is why he says, “Yes, fine, let’s do it,” to the saleswoman who looks like he’s just injected her with caffeine by the way she jolts upright and gets his order ready. “When will it be here?”

She clicks through something on her computer and says, “I should have it for you by noon tomorrow. I can call you as soon as it’s physically in my hands, though. Or would a text be better? I wouldn’t want to give anything away.”

“A text is good,” he tells her, hands her his card, fills out his information, and leaves.

There. Task two finally, excruciatingly, down.

* * *

Task three is a call to Itachi, which he makes after much delaying and excuse-making. He loves his brother, he does, but the man’s teasing is relentless.

It’s only two rings before he picks up. _“Everything alright, little brother?”_

“Nice to talk to you too, Itachi,” he mutters, fingers clenching anxiously on the sleeve of his sweater.

 _“No need to be snippy,”_ is the answer, and damn him, he sounds amused. _“May I ask why you’re calling me at…nearly midnight?”_

“It took Naruto awhile to fall asleep,” he admits, “and I didn’t want him overhearing.”

There’s a pause. _“I’ve never known you to keep secrets from him, Sasuke. Are you sure everything is alright?”_ His voice is sharper now, more alert, and Sasuke realizes he probably has, actually, woken Itachi up and caught him off guard.

The thought is oddly satisfying. “It’s fine, I promise. I…I was hoping that you’d be available for a celebration on Saturday, at the canyon.”

_“Oh? And what are we celebrating?”_

He takes a deep breath. “Hopefully, my engagement to Naruto.” He glances behind him at the balcony doors, even though he knows Naruto is dead to the world in the bedroom. “I’m going to propose.”

There’s a beat of silence that stretches slightly too long. “Itachi?” Sasuke says, suddenly worried that against all odds, Itachi won’t be pleased by this, even though he’s been pushing for Sasuke to stay close to Naruto longer than Sasuke’s even liked the energetic blond.

 _“Of course I’ll be there.”_ Itachi sounds slightly breathless. _“Little brother, I am so glad. Congratulations. If you’ve managed to convince him to stay with your foolish–”_

“He hasn’t said yes yet,” Sasuke snaps, cutting him off, “so congratulations are a little premature. I’ll text you the details. Don’t you dare tell him. Coordinate with Sakura if you have any questions.”

_“He’ll say yes, Sasuke.”_

Sasuke bites his lip and says, “Well, he’s less likely to if he keeps waking up to an empty bed. See you Saturday.”

_“I’ll see you then, little brother. I love you.”_

Sasuke mutters a quick reply before hanging up and heading back to bed. It’s cold, and it’s only two days that he’ll still be sleeping in the same bed as his boyfriend. After that, he knows it’ll likely be fiancé – or maybe alone, although he desperately hopes not. He doesn’t think so. He thinks, as he crawls back into bed and tucks his cold feet against Naruto’s legs and the blond twitches and groans, that even if Naruto says no, they’ll come out of this together.

It’s that thought he holds onto as he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

Sasuke runs his fingers through Naruto’s hair, letting the feel calm him slightly. He’s been trying so hard to be calm – be _normal_ this week, but tomorrow is Saturday, and he’s second guessing every second of all of this. What if Naruto says no? What if he hates it? What if one of them gets too hurt at the obstacle course and can’t keep going? What if Sasuke has read this _entire relationship_ wrong and Naruto doesn’t actually want –

“Hey.” Blue eyes stare up at him from his lap, wide and soft with concern. “You okay?”

He takes a deep breath to calm himself and stares down at the man before him. “Yeah.”

“You sure? You’ve been – Sas, you’ve been _weird_ this week, and – is this about our anniversary? Because we don’t have to – whatever you want to do is – I just wanna be with you, you know? That’s – that’s all that actually matters to me.” Naruto rolls so he’s on his side, nose pressed into Sasuke’s bellybutton as he wraps his arms around him. The brilliant blue of his eyes is disarming and sincere, and Sasuke feels his fear melt away.

“I’m sure, moron. Trust me. We’re going to have a great anniversary.” He rubs his thumb softly over Naruto’s temple. He’s been working too hard, lately, didn’t make it home until well past bedtime tonight, and Sasuke wonders if maybe he should let the schedule start a little later tomorrow. “Okay?”

A soft smile pokes at the curve of his boyfriend’s cheek. “Okay. You ready for bed? I know you’re tired, Sas – I’m sorry I got home so late. Oh – wait – is there anything I need to do to get ready for tomorrow?”

“No, just sleep.” He bends down to press a gentle kiss to his lips. “Bed time, then?”

“Your words, not mine!” Naruto laughs, and he curves lazily up from the couch, taking Sasuke’s hand and leading him away. “I want a hint about tomorrow.”

“I want a boyfriend who knows how to stop talking.”

“You love me, asshole!” Naruto slaps at him.

“God knows why.”

“Hey – fuck you! I’m a delight!”

“You’re something. I think the deal was no questions asked, and you’ve asked a question at least once a day this week,” Sasuke points out.

“I can’t help it!” Naruto whines, flopping down on the bed and dragging Sasuke with him. He wiggles around so his head is squarely curled into Sasuke’s chest, legs tangled together, arm thrown carelessly around his waist. “I wanna _knooow.”_

“We’ve been over our list of wants. Turns out we’re both out of luck,” Sasuke says, and he laughs when Naruto scowls and sticks out his tongue. He knows Naruto’s tired, can see it in his eyes – and yet his energy never seems to fade. “I promise, tomorrow will be a good day, okay?”

“Well duh,” Naruto tells him, with an ease that still amazes Sasuke even after all these years. “It’ll be us. I love you, asshole. Every day is a good day when we spend it together.”

Sasuke’s face feels like it’s on fire, and he hides with a kiss in Naruto’s hair. “Alright, moron. Bed time now.”

“’Kay.”

It still takes another half an hour for them to get changed and into bed, Naruto chattering on about his day and throwing out theory after theory about what Sasuke has planned.

Sasuke shoots each one down and wonders if he should be worried that Naruto hasn’t guessed correctly yet. Is a proposal really that out of the question?

Before he can worry, Naruto grabs him and wrestles him into being little spoon. He can’t help laughing as his overly affectionate boyfriend nips at his ear and kisses his cheek. “G’night, Sas,” he whispers. “I love you.”

“Night, moron.”

“And…?”

“I love you too.”

* * *

The day dawns in thunderclouds, and Sasuke immediately rolls over to grab his phone. He needs to call Sakura and figure out what the plan is. Of course every activity he’s planned is outside. He checks the weather. The rain is only supposed to hold through midday, so hopefully that means the obstacle course and the party at the canyon will still be fine.

He’s awake, this morning, completely and brilliantly awake, which is so rare and unusual that he can’t quite settle to text her. He gets up, jolting Naruto, and murmurs a quick apology in his ear. The blond nuzzles into the warm spot Sasuke has left but doesn’t wake, and Sasuke quickly steps out of the room. He walks onto the balcony but stays under the overhang to block the rain, closes the door, and calls.

To his relief, there’s no trace of sleep in her voice when she answers. _“Hello?”_

“It’s raining,” he says, panicking slightly, hands tightening and loosening on the railing. “What now?”

 _“Good morning to you too, sunshine,”_ she says irritably. _“It’ll be fine. We can delay the beach and play that part by ear, but as long as the canyon stays in place, I’ll keep everyone on standby unless you tell me to call it off. Call in your order at the diner whenever you’re ready. Lee is off today – I made sure of it – and Sai’s set up drawing on the corner underneath the pavilion, so even if he and Gai are out running, you should be safe for breakfast.”_

“Okay. The beach, on the off chance we do make it there?”

_“Shikamaru’s territory. I’m pretty sure Ino will be dropping in at some point, and probably Temari too.”_

Sasuke groans. “Sakura, they’re not exactly private people…”

 _“No, but there’s not a lot Ino likes more than manipulation, so you better believe she wants Naruto shocked as all hell.”_ Sakura sounds almost disgustingly fond as she talks about her girlfriend, and Sasuke concedes the point.

“Lunch?”

_“Kakashi and Iruka’s territory. They’ve got it covered.”_

“If Iruka sees Naruto, you know he’s going to burst into tears immediately. You should've been there when I asked him for his blessing." Sasuke runs a hand over his face.

_“I didn’t say he was going to be there. I said he and Kakashi have it covered. I think they’ve made sure Tsunade’s actually going to be taking a break from the hospital today, so she’ll be hovering at the restaurant when you two are there. Good enough? Good, because I’m not rearranging this late in the game.”_

“I – fine. Okay. The obstacle course?”

 _“Neji and Hinata will meet you there. Accidentally, of course. Shouldn’t be too strange, considering they’re the ones who told Naruto about it. Between the two of them, they ought to be able to keep anyone else away if necessary. If the weather is still bad, I’ll get Neji to bribe the owner to keep it open just for you two, and then he and Hinata can leave. That’s actually probably ideal anyways, I’ll – hang on –”_ He can hear her start to give directions to someone else in the background. _“After that, all you have to do is get him here. I’ve rented out the whole area – on your credit card, by the way, and it was_ not _cheap – and I’ll have everything set up and decorated but the lights off. We’ll turn them on as soon as we can see Naruto. All set?”_

“All set,” he echoes. “And I hope you used my card for all of it, Sakura. This is my proposal.”

 _“And some of it was my engagement gift,”_ she tells him lightly.

He wants to argue, but he hears a sleepy, “Sasuke?” from inside the apartment. “Gotta go,” he says quickly and hangs up, darting back inside. “Up so soon, sleepyhead?”

Naruto yawns and rubs at his face. “’M not sleepy.”

Sasuke stifles a laugh. “Sure you aren’t. Want a shower before breakfast?”

“Mm…yeah…” Naruto dissolves into another yawn.

Sasuke steps into his space and kisses his cheek. “How about I shower first and you get a little more sleep, huh?”

“You sure, Sas?” Sleepy blue eyes blink at him. “Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary, dumbass. Go back to bed.”

“Nah, I’ll just…out here’s good…” And without further fanfare, Naruto collapses on the couch.

Sasuke laughs out loud at that and drags the blanket folded neatly on the back of the couch over his sleeping boyfriend. “Good night, moron.”

Naruto mumbles something unintelligible that may have been a good night, and Sasuke heads for the shower. He takes his time, but when he emerges, towel slung over his shoulders and sweatpants on his hips, Naruto is still sound asleep on the couch, one arm dangling over the edge, snoring lightly.

Sasuke snickers and kneels gently beside his head. “Hey,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to his temple. “You hungry?”

“Mm…Sas…?”

“Unless you think someone else is kissing you in our home, I’d damn well hope so.”

Naruto chuckles sleepily. “Asshole.”

“Moron. Are you hungry?”

Blue eyes blink hazily at him, and Sasuke’s stomach swoops. “A little,” Naruto mumbles. “Don’t really wanna get up though…” All of sudden the haze clears, and Naruto jolts. “Wait! Sas – I’m sorry – our anniversary – you have something planned! I’ll get in the shower right now –”

Sasuke catches his head and pushes him back to the pillow, running his hands through tangled hair. “There’s no rush. It’s raining anyways. What if we just spend the morning here?”

“But –”

“Will that make you happy?”

“Sasuke, you planned –”

“Listen to me, idiot. Will it make you happy?”

Naruto’s eyes soften, and he smiles. “Yeah,” he says. “That sounds nice.”

“Was that so damn hard?” Sasuke grumbles. He leans forward and kisses him anyways. “I’m going to go pick up some breakfast for us, okay? You get some more sleep.”

“Don’t leave meee,” Naruto says plaintively. “It’s our anniversary!”

Sasuke wants to argue. He does. But if Shikamaru doesn’t have to cover the beach anymore…well, it’s not too far from the diner. “Fine. I’ll call in a favor, but you have to go back to sleep until the food’s here, okay?”

Naruto beams. “Okay!” He kisses Sasuke messily and snuggles down into the couch.

Sasuke can’t quite stop the laugh that sneaks past him, and he walks into the bedroom and closes the door. His text to Sakura is brief, and he can sense the eye-roll that comes with her answer. Still, Shikamaru can get the food and drop it off at the door. He reminds her not to let Naruto see him – Shikamaru doing them a favor on their anniversary is far too suspicious – and she snarks back at him with a testy confirmation that their food will be there in about half an hour.

He tells her thank you and doesn’t get an answer, and he figures that’s apology enough.

Naruto has curled into the fetal position on the couch, and Sasuke gently lifts his feet so he can squeeze under them and stretches out his legs so they’re draped over Sasuke’s lap. He rubs his calves gently, massaging them, and slowly, slowly, Naruto wakes up. “Sas?” he mumbles.

“Food will be here in a bit. Keep sleeping.”

“Don’t wanna,” Naruto says stubbornly, rolling over so that he can see Sasuke. “Wanna spend time with you.”

Sasuke snorts. “You’ll get all day with me, dumbass.”

“Yeah, and I wanna start now.” Naruto shoots up, wraps his arms around Sasuke, and drags him down on the couch. Sasuke can’t think of a single good reason to fight him, not now, with Naruto’s eyes on him and that damn smile and arms holding him like he’s something precious, so he doesn’t. They spend the morning with lazy kisses and soft touches and jokes, breaking only for the food. It’s a little burnt, and they’ve forgotten one of Naruto’s sides, and Sasuke wants to be upset about it – but Naruto’s laughing and the rain is slowing and he knows there’s a rainbow out there because Naruo is so damn excited about it, and Sasuke doesn’t know how to be anything but happy.

This is it. This is what he wants, forever.

Where the world isn’t perfect, but they damn well _are._

He tells Sakura to cancel lunch. They’ve pushed breakfast to way too late, anyways. They’ll go straight to the obstacle course, detour to the apartment for fresh clothes, and then to go the canyon, he thinks. That’s the best plan.

Sakura is slightly less patient with this change, but he doesn’t let either of them dwell on it. Rain happens, things happen, and the only thing that really matters is what’s happening later at the canyon.

They arrive to the obstacle course just as the rain has cleared, and Naruto’s eyes are wide with excitement. “Is it even open? I thought they closed for bad weather! Neji said that this is the best way to keep yourself in shape, says it’s the best course in the city, and I’ve been wanting to go here for _weeks_ , Sas, how did you know? It looks closed, though, but that’s okay, but – Sasuke?”

“It’s open for us, idiot,” he tells him, walking up to the man waiting at the entrance. “Uchiha and Uzumaki.”

“Yes – we’ve been expecting you. You’ll need to sign these papers releasing us from any liability, especially given that you’ve chosen to explore the course after a storm. You cannot sue us for any reason. Is that clear?”

“I’m sure the paperwork makes that abundantly clear,” Sasuke snaps, taking it from him and scanning it quickly. Itachi would kill him for signing this, but – well, Naruto’s already starting to talk to the owner about how long they’ve been open and what their plans are and holy shit did he just figure out who his kids are? – Sasuke finds that maybe he doesn’t care, just this once.

He signs the papers and tugs on Naruto’s ear until he turns and signs his copy too.

That bothers Sasuke slightly more, and he takes a few pictures of the paperwork to send to Itachi later. Just in case something goes wrong. He’s pretty sure there’s no contract that’s actually Itachi-proof.

He tunes back into the conversation just in time to catch, “– for dinner sometime! Maybe next weekend? I haven’t seen Yugito and Yagura in _ages –”_ and no, Sasuke has to stop that right there.

“Slow down, moron,” he says. “Let’s get through this weekend first.”

Naruto laughs that sunshine laugh that makes the world slow down, and the next thing Sasuke knows, they’ve started the obstacle course and made dinner plans for a month out. Naruto is a force of nature, unstoppable and wild, and Sasuke knows he’s lucky to be along for the ride.

They run, they crawl, jump, climb – and three hours later, they’re exhausted, covered in mud, and in desperate need of a shower. Sasuke thinks about what Naruto said and admits that Neji might have been right: he will definitely feel this workout all over tomorrow, and damn if they didn't have fun.

“We’ll have to come back,” he says, and Naruto lights up.

“Yes! We should get a membership! Hey, A! Do you do discounted memberships?” He takes off waving at the owner, talking animatedly, and Sasuke takes the opportunity to call Sakura.

 _“Status?”_ she asks, as if this is some secret agent mission.

He thinks maybe it kind of is, given his general inability to keep secrets from Naruto. “We just completed the course, and he’s talking. It’ll probably be a couple hours. We need to go home and definitely shower and change, and then head out to you. Is everything set up?”

_“We’re decorating now. I wanted to wait on the food until we had an exact time from you, but I’ll make those calls now. Or – wait – Ino, can you –? With Itachi – thanks.”_

He feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Why is Itachi there already?”

_“He’s helping, Sasuke. You left the party to me, so you have to trust me with it. Also, there’s been a change of plans. Kakashi will be driving you both to the canyon.”_

“What?” He frowns at the phone. “That wasn’t the plan. Why?”

_“Sometimes, even I can’t control Kakashi, Sasuke. He wants to do this for you, okay? Iruka will be here with me, so don’t worry about that. You know Kakashi can keep a secret.”_

“I know, but why?”

 _“Ask him,”_ she says, and he can hear the exasperation in her voice. _“God knows he wouldn’t tell me.”_

Naruto’s turning towards him, away from A, and he says quickly, “Yeah, alright, thanks. See you later, Sakura. Have Kakashi text you when we leave.”

_“Got it. See you soon, lover-boy!”_

He hangs up and wishes there was a way for her to hear the irritation in it.

“Everything okay?” Naruto loops his arm around his waist and pulls him tight. “You look upset.”

“No – no. Everything’s fine.” He smiles at Naruto in an attempt to reassure him. “There’s one more thing today, okay? I have a dinner planned. Kakashi will pick us up. We just need – well, definitely a shower and some clean clothes.”

“There’s more?” His eyes go wide. “Sasuke, you didn’t need to – this day has been awesome!”

“It’ll get better,” he promises, and leads him away.

* * *

It’s going to get worse. Sasuke cannot remember why he thought this was a good idea, and he is suddenly startlingly clear on why Kakashi decided to drive them. Sasuke has not been able to get his mouth to say a damn thing since they got in the car.

Thankfully, so far he hasn’t needed to. Kakashi has caught his eye a couple times in the rearview mirror, and it has a knowing glint, and Naruto has turned to look at him anxiously more than once – but every time, Kakashi has redirected his attention easily.

This was a good plan. If he ever tries to surprise Naruto again, he needs to remember this plan.

His mouth is dry as they finally pull up. Kakashi leans over, grabs Naruto by the back of the neck, and says sternly, “Naruto, for the next five minutes, I want you to be patient and silent. Follow Sasuke. Okay?”

Sasuke snorts. He's pretty sure there's no chance in hell of that happening.

Kakashi turns to him. “Sasuke, when Naruto doesn’t listen, I want you to be patient. I’m proud of you.” He steps out of the car, taps the hood, and slinks away, hands in his pockets, whistling cheerfully.

Naruto twists in the front seat to look back at him. “Sas, what’s going on?”

Sasuke swallows and tries to clear the lump in his throat. _This is it this is it this is._ “Come on, moron,” he manages, and gets out of the car.

Naruto follows for half a second before he speeds up and starts trotting after Kakashi into the dark. He’s a few steps ahead of Sasuke – who takes a deep breath, digs into his pockets and pulls out the ring box, and tries desperately not to hyperventilate – when the lights suddenly dazzle the area.

Sakura’s done a lot, especially for having had very little to start. There’s only one pavilion here, and it’s further away. Sasuke’s okay with that. It’s brilliant with party lights and company and cheering now, but this canyon is theirs, is where they come time and again to fight, to settle their differences, to tell each other truths they’ve kept secret too long. This place is theirs, and it’s the first time they’ve shared it, and he’s _scared._

“Sasuke – what…” Naruto stops, and Sasuke drops to one knee behind him. The blond turns, and his blue eyes go wide.

“Naruto.” His voice breaks, and he swallows frantically. He’s practiced this, he has, but he can’t remember anything. He can’t think past the look in Naruto’s eyes. “I love you,” he tries. “I – I love what we have. I always want to have it. Will you –”

“Yes.” Naruto claps his hands over his mouth. “Sorry, sorry, should I let you finish? I – just – fuck – yes, Sasuke, of course – I can’t believe – you asshole, you tricked me – _yes,_ of course it’s a yes –”

Whole sentences are overrated anyways. He springs to his feet and catches Naruto in a kiss, answer pounding his ears – _yes yes yes yes he said yes –_

He pulls away to slide the ring onto Naruto’s finger and looks up to see blue eyes filled with tears. “Sasuke,” Naruto chokes, “I love you.”

His heart feels like it’ll burst. “I love you too, crybaby.”

“Like you’re one to talk!” Naruto smears his thumb across his cheek and it comes away wet, and suddenly Sasuke realizes he’s crying too, and then everyone else is there – Itachi, Kakashi, Sakura, a sobbing Iruka –

And he doesn’t care.

Nothing else matters but Naruto’s hand in his.

He squeezes tight and doesn't let go.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, everyone! One of the reasons this took so long is that I now have four different versions of it written. The essential pieces never changed, but the details just wouldn't settle for me. Please let me know what you think! I appreciate your time so much :) Y'all make my day!!


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